On her first visit to Dubai, George had described it as “the time of my life”.

But, according to Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, the relationship became abusive on their second trip to the Gulf city.

Stirling said George claimed her partner became “increasingly controlling and abusive” and she was trying to leave Dubai after he allegedly punched her, witheld her passport and then attacked her again at their apartment.

She claimed she “feared for her life and, reaching for a kitchen knife within her grasp, acted in self-defence”, Stirling added.

In a statement, her mother Thereza George said: “After Brooke returned to Dubai for the second time, the dynamic between them had clearly changed.

“The day before the incident, she did not seem like herself. She was quieter and not her usual happy, cheerful self, but she did not tell me why.

“That evening they went to a bar in Dubai. When I spoke to Brooke right after the incident, she was absolutely terrified. I have never seen my daughter so frightened in my life. She was crying uncontrollably. I could see that one of her eyes was badly swollen and was beginning to close.”

She added she was “deeply concerned” for her daughter’s welfare.

“The daughter I spoke to that night was utterly terrified,” she said. “I firmly believe she was desperately trying to get home and away from whatever had happened to her.”